Bray Architects
Bray Architects is a private, employee-owned architecture and interior design firm founded in 1962, headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, serving K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and municipal clients across the Upper Midwest through four regional offices.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1962
- HeadquartersMilwaukee, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Bray Architects does
Bray Architects (legal entity: Bray Associates-Architects, Inc.) is a private, employee-owned architectural and interior design firm founded in 1962 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with additional offices in Davenport (IA), St. Paul (MN), and Sheboygan (WI). The firm provides architecture, interior design, facility planning, and community engagement services — supplemented by specialized sustainable/net zero design and environmental branding — to clients in the Upper Midwest, with a concentrated focus on educational facilities (PreK-12 and higher education) and civic/municipal buildings (public safety, judicial, recreation). Notable projects include Wisconsin's first net zero school (Forest Edge Elementary, $35M), the Vel Phillips Middle School ($50.1M, IIDA Award of Excellence), and the Mount Horeb Area Public Safety Building, which saved the Village over $1M through departmental consolidation.
The firm's business model is project-based professional services revenue, with projects typically procured through competitive RFP/RFQ processes from school districts and municipalities and funded through public referenda or municipal bonding. GTM is relationship-led and field-sales-driven: Bray emphasizes listening-based client engagement, community-centered design, and referendum campaign support as a differentiated capability. The firm is employee-owned, with no disclosed external funding, and reached its current scale of 70+ employees and four offices partly through organic growth and partly through inorganic moves, including the 2019 acquisition of Bracke.Hayes.Miller.Mahon. The technology footprint is conventional for an architecture practice — no AI/ML, proprietary APIs, or platform products are disclosed; differentiation is built on domain specialization, regional brand recognition, and a structured community engagement methodology developed over six decades.
Bray Architects firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bray Architects
- Legal name
- Bray Associates-Architects, Inc.
- Website
- https://brayarch.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1962
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Bray Architects is a private, employee-owned architecture and interior design firm founded in 1962, headquartered in Milwaukee, WI, serving K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and municipal clients across the Upper Midwest through four regional offices.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bray Architects industry classification
Industry- NAICS
- Architectural Services (54131)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering Services (8711)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- New School Construction (Greenfield Builds) (EDAEABAA)
Keywords
Where Bray Architects is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Milwaukee
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices4 records
Markets served
Bray Architects business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Architecture and Design Services: Professional services revenue from providing architectural design, interior design, facility planning, and community engagement services primarily to school districts and municipalities. Revenue is project-based, typically through competitive procurement and referendum-funded public projects.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Bray Architects product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bray Architects provides full-service architectural design, interior design, facility planning, and community engagement services primarily to educational and civic clients in the Upper Midwest. Projects include new construction, additions, and renovations for K-12 schools, higher education, municipal buildings, public safety facilities, and religious and corporate facilities. The firm also offers specialized capabilities in sustainable/net zero building design and environmental branding.
Product overview
Bray Architects is an architecture and design firm specializing in educational and civic design across the Upper Midwest. The company offers four core services: Architecture, Interior Design, Facility Planning, and Community Engagement. These services work together to deliver complete project solutions from initial visioning through construction completion. The firm also offers specialized capabilities in sustainable/net zero design and environmental branding. Projects span K-12 schools (elementary, middle, high), higher education facilities, civic buildings (police, fire, municipal), religious facilities, corporate/commercial spaces, and arts/recreation facilities including stadiums and natatoriums.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Quantifiable outcome
- Mount Horeb Area Public Safety Building saved Village over $1 million in construction and operating costs through departmental consolidation
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Bray Architects
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Bray Architects technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Bray Architects partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Cristo Rey Jesuit High SchoolminorBray Architects has partnered with Cristo Rey Jesuit High School since 2018, beginning with the planning and design of their new high school (opened 2020). The partnership has continued through participation in Cristo Rey's Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP), where Bray welcomes student workers annually to gain professional experience in architecture, interior design, and marketing departments. Four students participated in the 2023-24 program year.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Bray Architects competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Wold Architects and Engineers: Midwest-based architecture and engineering firm with a long-standing K-12 education focus, very similar client base (school districts and municipalities) and integrated services model to Bray.
- DLR Group: National architecture and engineering firm with a substantial K-12 and civic practice competing for the same Upper Midwest school referendum projects as Bray.
- Legat Architects: Midwest architecture firm with strong K-12 and higher education portfolios; comparable in size and regional focus to Bray Architects.
- TMP Architecture: Education-focused architectural firm with offices across the Midwest, competing directly for K-12 school district projects in overlapping geographies.
- BWBR (Buetow & Associates): Upper Midwest architecture firm with deep K-12, higher education, and civic experience, directly comparable in client vertical and regional footprint.
- HGA (Hammel, Green and Abrahamson): Minnesota-headquartered design firm with significant education, civic, and public-sector practices serving overlapping Upper Midwest clients.
- Wight & Company: Illinois-based architecture and engineering firm with a strong K-12 education practice and integrated design-build delivery model targeting similar public-sector clients.
- Hastings+Chivetta Architects: Midwest architecture firm specializing in education, civic, and religious facilities with comparable project scale and client mix.
Broad incumbents
- CannonDesign: Large national design firm with established K-12, higher education, and civic practices that competes for the same referendum-funded projects across the Midwest.
- Stantec: Global design and engineering firm with a sizeable education and civic architecture practice; broad incumbent that overlaps with Bray on mid-to-large public projects in the Upper Midwest.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Bray Architects social profiles
Digital presenceBray Architects compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Bray Architects financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bray Architects leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Bray Architects funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bray Architects M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bray Architects
What does Bray Architects do?
Bray Architects provides full-service architectural design, interior design, facility planning, and community engagement services primarily to educational and civic clients in the Upper Midwest. Projects include new construction, additions, and renovations for K-12 schools, higher education, municipal buildings, public safety facilities, and religious and corporate facilities. The firm also offers specialized capabilities in sustainable/net zero building design and environmental branding.
Is Bray Architects a public or private company?
Bray Architects is a private company. It is currently operating.
When was Bray Architects founded?
Bray Architects was founded in 1962. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Bray Architects based?
Bray Architects is headquartered in Milwaukee, United States, in the North America region.
How does Bray Architects make money?
One revenue line is on record: architecture and Design Services.
Who are Bray Architects's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Wold Architects and Engineers, DLR Group, Legat Architects, TMP Architecture, BWBR (Buetow & Associates), HGA (Hammel, Green and Abrahamson), Wight & Company and Hastings+Chivetta Architects. Broad incumbents are CannonDesign and Stantec.
Does Bray Architects have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bray Architects.
What industry is Bray Architects in?
Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAA, Architectural Design Services, with a secondary code of EDAEABAA, New School Construction (Greenfield Builds). Its NAICS code is 54131 and its SIC code is 8711.